With the summer months coming up, people are going outside and playing sports and being a little more fitness minded.  Of course, if you’re down in the South like I am, you spend the hottest parts of the day INSIDE playing video games or else you’ll melt!  So in honor of summer sports and outdoor fun, here’s a list of my favorite sports video games.

Now, before we even get started, I have to say that I’m not much of a sports gamer.  My tastes in games usually revolve around more silly and adventurous arcade fare, and not the more realistic and competitive nature of sports games.  So naturally, most of the sports games on my list are quirky, weird, and a little under the radar mostly.

Another reason why I’m not much of a sports gamer is that I’m just not that much into sports period.  Part of the reason is that my disability makes it very difficult for me to play any sport that involved catching and reacting to fast moving objects like balls.  I am blind in my left eye (since birth) so my depth perception and peripheral vision is very low.  Plus, I’m also a klutz.  But I don’t think that has anything to do with my vision.  I’d probably be a klutz if I had perfect eyesight.

I don’t mind watching sports games every now and then, though.  But I’m pretty selective.  I find basketball boring to watch on TV, but watching it live is way more exciting and fun.  Just the opposite, I prefer watching a football game on TV instead of live because I love the commercials and that handy yellow line that they put on the TV to tell you how far they have to get for a first down.  Baseball I think is boring to watch on TV AND live, unless it’s my little brothers playing little league because watching those kids have fun on the field is so entertaining.  If I had better eyes, I’d probably even enjoy playing baseball myself.

There’s a big video game that just came out that also fits with the ‘sports video game’ theme of this blog.  I’m talking about Wii Fit.  Now, keep in mind that I’m probably one of the biggest Nintendo fans as they come.  So it may come as a surprise to hear me say that I just can’t seem to be that interested in Wii Fit.  For starters, it just doesn’t look all that much fun.  All I see the people doing in the commercials is all sorts of Yoga crap.  I know that there are mini-games on it, too, and those might be fun. 

But is it worth 90 bucks?  That’s the big question right there and for 90 bucks, they’d have to do some heavy duty convincing for me to get it.  I mean, I could find many other ways to stay in shape for FREE, and not only that, there’s a good gym within walking distance from my house that I could utilize and feel my 90 bucks would be better spent instead.  However, just to let you know how shallow I can be, if the game were called “Wii Fit: With Kirby” I’d be all over it (especially if the balance board were pink, too).  Who here reading this blog would buy a Wii Fit Kirby game–raise your hands!  Or am I the only weirdo here?  Honestly, Namco’s We Ski game looks WAY more fun than Wii Fit (and at only 30 bucks, too).  I wish they’d sell the balance board separately.  I’d like to see if Namco used their Alpine Racer arcade experiences to make We Ski as fun as it looks.

Well, enough of my blabbering.  Here’s a list of my favorite sports video games:

Super Dodge Ball

This game was first on the NES, and even though I never owned it, I rented it TONS of times and played it lots at my cousin’s house, too.  It’s a little on the wacky and fantasy side, as players can perform special moves to turn the ball into a fiery comet or a bunch of tiny balls.  And if a player gets hit too many times, he turns into an angel and floats away!  The NES version would be cool on VC, but it did have a lot of flicker.

For those of you who loved River City Ransom on the NES, you might find it intersting (or may already know) that the makers of that game (Technos) also made Super Dodge Ball.  Actually, both games even star the same character. Technos made a bunch of fighting and sports games starring a hot-blooded high school kid named Kunio who also had a heart of gold. 

There was a Super Dodge Ball game on the Neo Geo but I didn’t like it as much because you had to do fighting game button combinations to pull off the special moves with the ball.  But even though Technos went under a while back, the GBA version of Super Dodge Ball was still fun, as it was made by former employees of Technos.  Speaking of which, this coming week they’re coming out with Super Dodge Ball Brawlers on the DS in the US.  I’ve got it already ordered online.  I’ve been getting more games online with free shipping since gas prices are so expensive nowadays (and I do like going to game stores, so it’s a little bit of a sacrifice).  So hopefully the DS version will be fun, too.  For the longest time, Super Dodge Ball was my MOST favorite sports game.  If you want to know which game toppled it from the top of my list, just keep reading (or skip down to the end of my blog).

Famista

Even though I don’t like to watch baseball, I have enjoyed a few baseball video games, surprisingly.  My favorite baseball video game is probably the ones in Namco’s Family Stadium series.  Called Famista for short, the first one even came to the US NES as RBI Baseball.  Later versions on the Super Famicom and arcade even had classic Namco themed fields and players, so you know I liked that.  And they all feature pick up and play arcade style gameplay.  Nintendo even had Namco make their Mario Baseball game on the GameCube.  I wonder if they’ll do the Wii version?  Other baseball video games that I’ve enjoyed are NES Bases Loaded and Baseball Simulator 1,000.  Only probably I have with baseball video games is that I have a hard time with batting, and sometimes I get nervous when playing outfield and forget where to throw the ball to get the other player out!

Mega Man Soccer–NOT a favorite

I had to put it here somewhere even though it’s not a favorite of mine.  But I SO wanted to like Mega Man Soccer when it first came out.  But it was so horrible that I just couldn’t.  And it’s a shame, too, as it brought back a lot of classic NES Mega Man characters and had great cartoony graphics and catchy tunes.

Totally unrelated, but I have to mention that the old Backyard Sports titles on the PC were great for kids.  I don’t know how good the new ones are, though.  Is Humongous Entertainment still around?  They made some GREAT kids games back in the day, like Putt Putt and Pajama Sam.

Mario Sports

As a Nintendo fan, I like the Mario Sports games for the characters.  But also for the pick up and play nature of the titles.  I think Mario Golf on the GameCube is my favorite of the Mario sports titles.  It amazes me how much control you have over your swing and the ball.  If you’re good enough, you can accurately put the ball exactly where you want on the field.  I never had any of the Mario Tennis games, but I did enjoy playing the N64 version at a friend’s house.  I wanted to get the GameCube Mario Tennis game, but it never went down in price like the Golf game did, and then it just got hard to find!  Namco made the GameCube Mario baseball game, so it had the old Family Stadium feel to it, despite some problems with the gameplay.  The angrier and edgier Mario characters in the Strikers soccer games were pretty funny, too bad the online play in the Wii version sucked.  Square made Mario Hoops on the DS and it had a lot of good 3-D visuals and ideas, like tapping with the stylus to dribble.  It’s a shame that Mario Hoops, like most sports titles, had a brutal CPU opponent.  I wanted to unlock the White Mage as a player, but it was just too darn hard!

Beach Spikers

I was over at a friend’s house one time and they were playing DOA Xtreme Beach Volleyball.  Naturally that game was horrible, so much so that I was determined to find a more fun volleyball game.  Luckily I found it in the GameCube’s Beach Spikers from Sega.  I found it on sale for only ten bucks, so that was even better.  Beach Spikers had simple arcade style gameplay along with that Sega arcade ‘sheen’ that I love.  Plus you can unlock parts to make an outfit to make your player look like Space Channel 5’s Ulala, so that was a plus.

Super Monkey Ball 1 & 2

Speaking of Sega, you may not consider the first two Super Monkey Ball games as sports games, but the sports themed mini-games were just as good as full games.  Most notable were the mini-golf and regular golf, bowling, and baseball games.  I never felt that I needed to buy a GameCube bowling game because the one on Super Monkey Ball was so good.  And I loved how simple the baseball game was.  Batting was easy and your base runs were determined on which pocket your ball fell into in the outfield.  Too bad the newer Super Monkey Ball games have kinda sucked.

Racing Games

Some people may not consider racing in cars as a sport, but YOU try driving at high speeds in a sweltering hot car.  Those drivers really are athletes.  So I figured I’d list my favorite racing games, too.  I like the Mario Kart games, Ridge Racer series, and OutRun (wish they’d make a 360 version of OutRun2).  So yeah, even my choice in racing games aren’t very realistic.

The Simpsons Bowling

I don’t really have very many memories of playing sports games in arcades, but The Simpsons Bowling is an exception.  It’s kind of a rare game.  You use the trackball controller to bowl, and it’s a very simplistic experience.  But what makes the game are the characters and their many funny quotes as you play.  Konami did their research, too, as Homer and Burns even wear the bowling shirts they wore in the episode when they were on a bowling team.  I kind of wish they’d make a home version of The Simpsons Bowling.  I had a lot of fun playing it with friends at the arcade (and it didn’t cost very much either).

Sega Superstars Tennis

Normally I don’t like most tennis games.  They seem like glorified Pong to me.  But I was pleasantly surprised with the recent Sega Superstars Tennis as it had the same simple gameplay and arcade sheen like OutRun2 and Beach Spikers did.  Plus the fun Sega character themed courts and players were neat, too.  You could even play as obscure Sega characters like the dwarf from Golden Axe and Alex Kidd.  Right now at GameStop, you can even pick up any version of the game for only 20 bucks.  360 owners, get the game and we can play online!  I’ll beat your butt with my favorite characters: Tails and Ulala (well, probably not).

As a Namco fan, I TRIED to get into their Smash Court Tennis games but they’re too hard and realistic.  One of them you could even unlock players like Reiko Nagase from Ridge Racer and Cassandra from Soul Calibur.  But they’re too hard to unlock!  The PSP Smash Court Tennis 3 game has Galaga and Pac-Man themed tennis mini-games.  I wonder if the upcoming Xbox 360 version will still have ’em.  I’d like to try them, at least.

Wii Sports

And my most favorite sports video game is…Wii Sports!  When the Wii first came out, I figured I’d give Wii Sports a try since it was free, but I thought I wouldn’t play it very much in favor of other games like Zelda.  But it turns out that Wii Sports was way more fun than I thought it would be.  I especially liked the bowling, baseball, and golf games on it, but boxing and tennis were neat, too.  And it’s still one of the best showcases on how well the Wii remote can be used (too bad other sports collections on the Wii aren’t NEAR as good…I’m looking at YOU, Mario & Sonic Olympics).  And keeping with the active theme of sports, Wii Sports really gets you off that couch and moving.  And players of all ages can get into it.  I’ve even seen an 80 year old grandmother play it and have fun!  Great Mii integration, too, and tons of fun at parties I’ve been to.  I wouldn’t mind if Nintendo expanded on Wii Sports with either a sequel or more fleshed out versions of the original games.  I can’t wait for the Mario baseball Wii game, hoping it’s like Wii Sports baseball.  And wouldn’t a Mario bowling game be great?  And of course, Wii Sports, being a free game, doesn’t hurt either.  Wish Wii Fit were that cheap.

Well, that’s all for now.  What are YOUR favorite sports games?  –Cary

Tags: Misc